Russia has said that its Su-35s aircraft have fired missiles at Ukrainian positions.
The footage reportedly shows one of the aircraft preparing for takeoff and taxiing on a runway at an undisclosed location before taking off into the air.
The footage then shows the aircraft in flight above the clouds before it apparently opens fire on an unseen target.
The aircraft can then be seen beginning its descent before apparently landing back at its base.
The images were obtained from the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Tuesday, 13th December, along with a statement claiming: “Crews of multi-role fighters practice the tasks of air patrolling in a given area and covering the actions of attack aircraft and army aviation helicopters during air strikes on military facilities and equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
“Flights of Russian Aerospace Forces fighters are carried out with suspended missiles of various classes.
“When an air target was detected, the fighter crews identified it as an enemy aircraft and destroyed it with missile weapons.”
The Russian MoD also quoted an unnamed Su-35s fighter pilot as saying: “During the performance of a combat mission in the duty zone in the air, I discovered an air target, completed the capture of the target, then received permission to work on this target, performed a launch and continued flying to control the airspace.
“After the estimated time of the meeting of the missile with the target, the mark disappeared. Then he performed a lapel and re-entered – he noted he did not observe anymore. Upon arrival, I received confirmation from the ground that the target was hit.”
We have not been able to independently verify the claims or the footage.
Russia invaded Ukraine on 24th February in what the Kremlin is still calling a “special military operation”. Today marks the 289th day of the war.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between 24th February and 13th December, Russia had lost about 95,260 personnel, 2,966 tanks, 5,930 armoured combat vehicles, 1,931 artillery units, 404 multiple launch rocket systems, 211 air defence systems, 281 warplanes, 264 helicopters, 1,617 drones, 592 cruise missiles, 16 warships, 4,549 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 170 units of special equipment.
Russia has claimed that its casualties have been much lower but provides infrequent updates on its latest figures.
Ukraine has asked Western countries to provide it with Patriot missile systems.
Denys Shmyhal, the country’s Prime Minister, has said that Western air defence systems are needed in order to counter Russian President Vladimir Putin’s missile attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
Jan Egeland, the head of Norway’s refugee council, has said that he expects hundreds of thousands of refugees from Ukraine to flee to Europe over the winter due to “unliveable” conditions.
He said: “Nobody knows how many, but there will be hundreds of thousands more [people leaving Ukraine] as the horrific and unlawful bombing of civilian infrastructure makes life unliveable in too many places.”
The European Union has reached an agreement to send EUR 18 billion in financial aid to Ukraine.
The EU has managed to strike a deal with Hungary after the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban blocked the deal.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has asked G7 leaders to hold a special global summit during the winter to bring peace to Ukraine.
Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout has become a member of the Kremlin- loyalist ultranationalist Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR).
The move comes after the “Merchant of Death” was freed after 14 years in US custody in a prisoner swap with American basketball player Brittney Griner.
Ivan Fedorov, the exiled mayor of Melitopol, has said that Moscow’s forces are “redeploying” and “panicking” after Ukraine attacked the Russian-occupied city over the weekend.
Putin will not hold an end-of-year press conference for the first time in over 10 years, in what many consider to be a break with protocol as a result of the war in Ukraine.
